Meet The Artist
AbdelZaher Notebooks, Sketchbooks, Albums
These elegantly hand-?crafted books are bound exclusively for Baraka Home in Cairo, Egypt by AbdelZaher. Each book or album is carefully bound by hand from materials made by AbdelZaher. Some books are made from textiles crafted by the village of Akhmim in Upper Egypt using techniques and skills that have been in use by the village for over 3,000 years. Located in a centuries-?old workshop just behind the Azhar Grand Mosque of Cairo, AbdelZhaer mixed centuries old-?binding techniques with some of the finest quality German-?made paper.
Anahi Sist - Sat Mitar kaur
Born in 1976 Born in 1976 in Ecuador, her father is Italian, her mother Paraguayan. She studied in Peru, Paraguay, Brazil, Italy and the United States. She exhibits her art and works with galleries since 1996. In 1999, she initiated her study of the Native Cultures from South America, participating in ceremonies and rituals. In 2001, she founded Sunu a non-?profit organization whose purpose is to enhance and preserve the Native culture. This same year she presented her thesis on Nativemasks and was awarded her degree in Visual Arts by the Instituto Superior de Arte of Paraguay. In 2004 she became a certified Kundalini Yoga Instructor. She also helped organize the Peace and Dignity Journeys (Native ceremony that unites the peoples of the entire American continent, from Alaska to Patagonia) in Paraguay.
Ethiopian Coptic Cross
Coptic Crosses are used as processional and religious symbols as much as they are highly praised decorative elements. The Coptic Church is the Christian church of Egypt, established in the 1st century A.D. The early Gnostics and Copts adapted the Egyptian Ankh Cross as the basis of its emblem, which then evolved as the region's history changed. Old Coptic crosses often incorporate a circle; sometimes large, sometimes small. The circle was inherited from the Ankh, where it originally depicted the Sun god. For the Coptic Church, the circle represents the eternal and everlasting love of God. It also symbolises Christ's halo and resurrection. In Ethiopia, these crosses can be so sophisticated that it's difficult to find the cross in the design. They are mostly made from a mix of nickel and silver.
Gehad Taysan
Gehad Taisan is a rising star in Middle Eastern art. His work is clearly recognizable in its quiet, almost iconic style, muted colors and almost two-?dimensional settings. His technique varies depending on the work, but in many paintings, Taysan uses a collage-?style fusing his paintings with newspaper and magazine clippings, where he paints over certain parts, but exposing others. His characters are frequently women in poses reminiscent of Renaissance works or in Orthodox icons, still and almost suspended in states of deep existence. He has exhibited his work in numerous galleries and throughout the Middle East.
Glennis Siverson, Photographer
Over the past 18 months alone, Women in Photography International (WIPI) awarded Glennis 2nd place and four honorable mentions in three juried competitions. She has been nominated for a Florida Magazine Association’s 2010 Charlie Award, and her work was selected for the prestigious 2009 Art of Photography international exhibition in San Diego, for which just 111 images were chosen from 16,000 entries. Glennis’ images were featured in five juried 2009-?10 exhibitions at The Center for Fine Art Photography in Colorado, and The Minneapolis Photography Center displayed her work in 2009. The Museum of Florida Art featured five of her images in 2009, and three images will be in ASMP’s soon-?to-?be-?published Light of Florida book. Her work has twice been highlighted in National Geographic online galleries showcasing China and Frogs.
Green Art Studio
Eco-friendly artists Erin Black and Di St. Jacques-Blue create these extraordinary glass inspired sculptures from recycled plastic bottles and waste paint. Starting with a humble discarded water bottle, they enhance the beauty of the original textures with the brilliance of the blended paints. Green Art Studios has mastered the concept of upcycled art.
Hip and Hippie
Made from 100% soy and created by Deann and Julie Walterscheid, two Texas sisters of German-American descent. Their parents raised them in a small country community and taught them how to work hard, appreciate the small things and to love life. Their grandmothers, aunts, and mother instilled in them nature-first remedies and hands on learning about the best natural approaches to living life and raising healthy families. Their knowledge acquired since childhood, launched a company on the cutting edge of unique, high quality, natural, earth friendly, and planet loving products.
Lisa Niemeth
Born in 1963 in New York City, and working out of a studioconverted chicken coop in the back of a 1886 dairy farmhouse in the middle of San Francisco, Lisa Neimeth, creates random stilllifes of objects, scenarios, curios and iconic images... impressed into clay. Her tableware is slab- constructed and made from dark, rich California clays using high and low fired glaze finishes. Food and dishwasher safe. Full place settings available.
Mahmoud Ghazal
Known for his angel-?like images of Whirling Dervishes, Mahmoud Ghazal is a Syrian artist with roots in the city of Raqqa in the northern fertile planes of Aljazira region (peninsula) which was also home to the legendary Calif, Haroun Al-?Rachid. Whirling Dervishes are disciples of the Sufi poet and mystic Rumi, who in the 13 century invented whirling to music as a way of worshipping God. Gazal’s approach to representing Whirling Dervishes has been described as ethereal, almost reminiscent of angelic auras. His coloration is as surprisingly vivid as it is unique, almost expressionist in effect. It is appreciated and collected by numerous galleries and private collections throughout the world.
Marcia Herson Glass Jewelry
Marcia’s work, like her life, is rich, varied and unpredictable. She designs her unique jewelry pieces from silver, polymer clay and lamp worked beads. Many found objects delightfully appear in Marcia’s jewelry art. If a piece is busy, she interjects repetition; conversely, simple elements call for more quirkiness. Innovatively combining polymers, metal and glass, gives Marcia a seemingly endless supply of materials with which to continue her fabulous creations! Many cultures have influenced my beliefs and sense of beauty. They have become the soup of who I am as a human being and as an artist. In my studio, I make glass beads, pound silver, transfer images onto polymer clay and figure out ways to incorporate found objects
Massai Sandals
Sandals made by the Maasai tribe in Kenya are imported by Pati Pati Imports (pretty sandals in Swahili). The Maasai are a nomadic tribe that raise cattle as well as crafting jewelry and sandals. The soles are made from old tires, leather from the cattle raised and all beading is done by Maasai women, known for a uniquely colorful style of beading. 5% of sales go to support the people and schools in the remote area of Kieni Constituency of Kenya.
Milagros
Milagros or Miracles, found in many areas of Latin America, are used by the people to petition saints for help or protection. It is traditional that people often pin small metal images of arms, legs, animals, praying figures or other symbols of their prayers on statues of saints or Christ. These Milagros serve to remind the saint of the person's prayers or to thank the saint for prayers that have been answered. Horse or sheep figures may be left to ask for help in healing a sick animal or for fertility. Students may leave an open book asking for divine intervention in their grades. Hearts are often left to thank the saint for answering the prayers of the lovelorn. Each Milagro is specially made for a unique purpose so the variety is enormous.
Moon Alley Candles
Moon Alley candles are handcrafted in Murphy, California. This unique line of candles is the result of years of development, reflecting a love of color, candlelight and the creative process. Made from premium paraffin wax and zinc core wick. The exterior of the candle may be preserved, while the interior wax burns away. Once sufficiently deep and wide well has been created, a refill kit may be inserted to extend the life of the candle. Each candle is packaged with care instructions in a gift box.
MOUSA RAMO
Mousa Ramo shocked the art world in the Arab World when he came on the scene almost two decades ago. A Bedwin from the Syrian desert, Ramo is a self-? taught artist who works with marble and other native to Syria. His works mostly portrays mythical figures from fairly tales, mystics, Sufis, and bedwin characters. His style is mostly austere but also one that intentionally displays the stone in its original, natural state. In a way, Ramo wants his viewer to both see the before and after states of his stone, as if saying that nature is also an artist, or that one should never forget nature as the originator of all art.
Nuhad Gule
A Turkish/Kurdish/Syrian artist with an increasingly expanding popularity in the Middle East and Europe. His work has been exhibited in many parts of the world to rave reviews. His latest show at Zamman Gallery in Beirut, (Dec.2009) was a sensational success. Gule is well-?regarded for two main qualities: his colors and his treatment of his subject matter. “I choose my colors, colors choose me”, he said in an interview with the Lebanese online magazine, Alwan. Gule is mostly tackling large subjects that run deep in the history of his early childhood in the northern mountains of Kurdish Syria. His paintings are immersed in iconographic details that could be traces on a Summerian temple or an ancient work dedicated to Ishtar and Adonis.Central in his work is the eternal connection of Man and Woman. Always connected in an act of exchange. It is both a ritualistic stance as much as it is a social position that connects, man, woman, animal, the environment, history, art. His work can be seen in many collections worldwide.
Zuhier Hassib
One of the leading contemporary artists in the Middle East, Zuhier Hassib made a name for himself by associating his art with nature. He transforms everyday found objects into works of art that are as contemporary in their aesthetic as they are primordial in their material. From antique doors and windows to milling wood and pieces of nature (burned tree branches, tools used in the fields, etc.). His figurative representation shows a life, mostly inhabited by women, in states of longing, waiting, but also power and triumph. Zuhier Hassib’s women look almost iconic in their traditional dress and his tender blue coloring, but they also give the impression of both tenderness and independence, loneliness and connection, goddess and lover.
